


Patrick the Hot IT Guy

by la_dissonance



Series: commentfics and drabbles [5]
Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Academia, Crushes, Flirting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-24
Updated: 2013-05-24
Packaged: 2017-12-12 21:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/816079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_dissonance/pseuds/la_dissonance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As long as the hot IT guy is the one to come fix it, Pete's computer is welcome to break down as often as it likes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Patrick the Hot IT Guy

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://alpheratz.dreamwidth.org/127359.html?thread=765055) in Alpheratz's February Fall Out Boy Fest. There may be gross inaccuracies re:academia lurking within, everything I know comes from 4 years of undergrad.

Pete kicks his heels against the legs of his desk chair and spins idly. It's been nearly an hour since he called IT, so the tech support guy should be showing up any minute. The university IT department values punctuality very highly, though apparently giving first year professors halfway decent computers is less of a priority.

The same IT guy - Patrick, Pete found out his name early on by virtue of being obnoxiously chatty - has shown up every single time Pete's computer has gone down so far, which is awesome because he happens to be extremely hot. Pete's been sort of tempted to sabotage his own computer so he can see Patrick the hot IT guy even more, but he's been to the IT department's lair in the basement of the library; he knows they have more than one guy working there. Breaking shit is bound to jinx his lucky streak.

Right on cue, there's a knock on his office door and the hot IT guy sticks his head inside.

"Patrick! You're almost late, I nearly gave up hope."

Patrick rolls his eyes and sets his bag down on Pete's desk. "Isn't that a laptop right there on your shelf? I think you would have survived."

"That's not a work laptop, that's my personal laptop," Pete says. He rolls his chair back into the corner to give Patrick room to work. 

"Have you been backing up your work regularly?" 

"Define 'regularly'," Pete hedges.

Patrick just sighs. "Well, let's see if we can get this back up and running." 

Patrick jiggles the power button on the monitor and then drops down to crawl under Pete's desk. Pete blesses whatever deity was responsible for mounting the computer underneath the desk, and tries to subtly roll his chair to a more favorable viewing location. Patrick's wearing these thin drapey khakis today, and he moves like he's got no shame. Pete tries not to be obvious with his ogling, but he's pretty sure Patrick knows anyway. 

"So, how was your day?" When this garners no response, Pete forges on. "What's new in your life? We see each other all the time, Patrick, but I feel like I barely know anything about you."

"That's a lie," Patrick says from under the desk.

"Caught me." Pete spreads his hands even though Patrick can't see him. It is a lie; he grills Patrick every time he comes over, and somehow, Patrick always puts up with it. He knows that Patrick always saw himself going into music before he found out he was good at computers, that he still sometimes plays drums and anything else that's needed for his friends' band that has a hard time holding onto members, and that he always brings lunch from home because he doesn't trust the dining hall food, but that's not enough. Pete wants to know everything there is to know about Patrick. 

Patrick doesn't divulge any more juicy life facts, though, just reaches for his bag and disappears back under the desk. Pete takes the opportunity to appreciate his ass a bit more, until the silence becomes unbearable. 

"Have you been working here long? This is my first year. My friend Gabe - you know Professor Saporta, from Religious Studies? He must have, like, blown half the selection committee, because I didn't expect to get hired anywhere this fast; this was one of the first places I even applied. But it's good, you know? Anyway," Pete says, shrugging.

"Lucky," Patrick says. "This was my work study job and I've been working full-time ever since I graduated - so almost two years, I guess."

"Oh, good," Pete says. One of his biggest fears has been that Patrick's secretly a student and Pete's perving has been completely inappropriate this whole time. He'd been a little scared to ask.

Patrick laughs. "It's a paycheck, sure. Not really what I figured I'd end up doing."

"Are you still playing with your friends' band?"

"Nah, they found a kid from Ohio who would tour with them, so they took off. I was just doing them a favor anyway."

Patrick doesn't sound too broken up about it, but to Pete that sounds like kind of the saddest thing ever. "That's fucked up."

"Eh. Can you go over to the wall and see if this power strip is plugged in?" Patrick asks. Pete slides off his chair and dutifully checks the outlet.

"This the one?" He tugs on the white cord that leads under the desk, and Patrick snatches it back.

"Yup."

"Looks plugged in to me."

"Fuck. Not that, then..."

Pete goes back to his chair and finds Patrick sprawled even more extravagantly across the floor, twisted around to see something at the very back of the tower. Pete bites the inside of his lip very hard. 

"I'm going to have to move this, gravity is working against me here," Patrick says, after a long while where Pete tries very valiantly not to think of sinking down and doing dirty, sexy things with Patrick on his office floor. 

Pete clears a spot on his desk and gestures for Patrick to use it when he emerges from underneath the desk carrying the computer. It's got a panel missing on the back, and when Patrick sets it down he goes about methodically removing the rest of the panels.

"Computer guts," Pete says. Patrick has snagged the straight-backed chair Pete keeps by the door, so Pete rolls closer to watch Patrick work.

"Normally we just bring these things down to IT to run diagnostics, but if something just came loose, it saves a trip to just do it here..."

This sounds suspiciously like Patrick just wants an excuse to stay in Pete's office. Pete grins big. "Awesome. Do you want a juice box? I have pop tarts, too."

Patrick looks at him funny. "This isn't going to take that long."

It takes a really long time. After Patrick tightens everything and plugs the computer back in, he runs some blue screens for what feels like hours, then scowls and unplugs the computer and takes it back apart again. Pete pesters him about his personal life the entire time and gets distracted, one-word answers in return, but Patrick never tells him to shut up, so Pete figures he's got an open pass to keep going.

They're debating whether the seventh Harry Potter book did the series justice when Patrick starts to run the diagnostics for a second time, muttering darkly.

"Is it dead?" Pete asks. He gave into the temptation of pop tarts a long time ago, though Patrick made him back up so he wouldn't get crumbs on the computer. Not that there's that much space to back up into; Pete's office is tiny.

"It looks like probably your motherboard went out," Patrick says, scowling deeper.

"Oh, cool," Pete says.

"So it's probably dead," Patrick clarifies.

"Do you want to go out for lunch with me?" Pete blurts. 

Patrick blushes. "I only get a half an hour for lunch."

"Oh, there's plenty we could do in half an hour," Pete says, and when Patrick blushes deeper, Pete realizes that maybe 'get lunch' isn't secret code for anything else in most people's minds. "I was actually thinking we could lock the door and make out forever," he explains. "Or actual lunch, if you want. Or dinner? What are you dinner plans like tonight?"

"Um," Patrick says. Pete desperately hopes that he'll say yes to something. Pete maybe wants to spend every waking moment with this guy, but that's a little stronger than you should be coming on to your tech support guy while he's only there to fix your computer, Pete's pretty sure.

"'Um' as in 'I'm totally free for dinner tonight and would love to go out with you?' Or as in 'get out of my sight this minute, you disgusting pig, I can't believe I ever shared my views on Snape with you?'" Pete sits on his hands and tries not to jiggle his foot too much.

Patrick busies himself with screwing the side of Pete's computer back on. "Actually more like, um, is the making out still an option?"

Pete's out of his chair like a shot. "Hell, yes, it is."

"Didn't you say something about locking the door?" Patrick asks, once Pete is most of the way around the desk.

Pete groans, detours back to lock the door, and then makes a beeline for Patrick's lap. Patrick puts down his screwdriver and fists his hands in Pete's shirt, pulling him in. 

"You're not going to get in trouble for this, are you?" Pete asks. His hand goes up to Patrick's face and he runs his fingers gently down Patrick's cheek, pausing just at the corner of his lips. He's thought about this.

"Not if I'm on my lunch break," Patrick says. He tilts his head up to press a quick kiss to Pete's lips, then loosens one of his hands from Pete's shirt so he can take his hat off and set it on a pile of papers on the desk. He looks up at Pete through his eyelashes, which is entirely unfair. 

"You're kind of perfect," Pete breathes, brushing a stray lock of Patrick's hair into line with the rest of his bangs. 

Patrick blushes again. "Shut up and kiss me," he says, and that, Pete has no problem doing.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Patrick the Hot IT Guy by la_dissonance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/836312) by [fire_juggler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fire_juggler/pseuds/fire_juggler)




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